Chapter 203 Not to be trifled with, setting things right...
The price of deliberately provoking a woman is absolutely unforgettable.
Zong Suyi stayed in bed for two whole days before the redness and swelling subsided and the broken skin almost completely healed.
Zhang Ting brought over the medicine, scooped up some soup and fed it to him. "The doctor said he can stop after finishing this dose."
Zong Suyi threw a tantrum, turned her back to him, and said angrily, "I won't drink."
Zhang Ting put down the bowl, turned him around, and said patiently, "How can you get fully better if you don't take your medicine? Xiao Yi, don't be silly."
Zong Suyi wouldn't listen to anything, and glared at her fiercely, "You lied to me again! All that feeling of being unable to do anything was an act!" He got up, grabbed her collar and pulled her over, but the movement was too strong and aggravated his injury. He gasped, "Hiss—" The pain made him collapse from exhaustion.
Zhang Ting caught her husband steadily and then tucked him into the bed, her movements swift and seamless.
"I never expected that even in my condition, you would still force yourself on me." She tenderly tucked him in, opened the drawer beside her, and took out a jar of ointment.
There was one thing she didn't understand: "What's wrong with valuing love over lust?"
Zong Suyi's ears turned red, and she slowly shrank back, burying herself in the quilt.
He replied in a muffled voice, "It's just not good! A wife is born to give her husband a good life!"
Zhang Ting didn't understand. "Isn't a life of luxury and honor for both husband and wife considered a good life?" She was busy making money and getting promoted, but in his eyes, it was all for nothing.
Zong Suyi crawled out from under the covers, his fair face flushed from being covered up, and said emphatically, "Wealth and honor are a blessing if you gain them, but not having them won't cause any problems!"
Zhang Ting chuckled playfully, "Then I won't have to go to work or earn money. I can just stay home and do whatever I want with you all day. Wouldn't that let you live like a god?"
absurd!
Zong Suyi's eyes lit up, and she sat up. "I couldn't be happier!"
Zhang Ting sighed, letting go of the matter. He just had the mentality of a pampered young master; he'd never experienced hardship. She opened the medicine jar, scooped out a spoonful with her finger, and carefully applied the medicine to his wound.
The cool touch made Zong Suyi shiver. He burrowed back under the covers to hide himself and muttered, "How come you've never had a hard life? When I first started following you, you made me mop the floor every day! Hmph." He then let out a weak whimper like a kitten, "Be gentle...it hurts."
Mopping the floor is considered a hard life?
"Have you ever seen a master allow his servants to sit at the table and eat with him? He provides you with good food and drink, and even gives you clothes worth a thousand taels of silver, and you still say that his wife is mistreating you?" Zhang Ting thought to herself that she was really good-tempered, and that she didn't even teach this audacious little dog a lesson back then.
Good deeds don't always bring good rewards. She shook her head, and her grip tightened even more.
Zong Suyi's shoulders trembled as she sobbed softly, seemingly unsure of what she was talking about. "You always bully me..." She squeezed her hand tightly, sat up hugging the blanket, her eyes red like a fierce little white rabbit. "I still have to bear children for your Zhang family. If you ruin me, may your ancestors in the underworld tear you apart!"
Zhang Ting shook her head. "It won't break. My husband is very healthy." She forcibly pulled her finger out. There was a transparent, sticky substance on it, like dissolved ointment. She washed her hands and dried it with a handkerchief before she was done.
Fortunately, she had prepared a basin of water in advance; she was indeed resourceful.
Hearing her say that she was physically strong, Zong Suyi couldn't help but feel shy. Did she mean that she was praising him for being able to have many more children for her? But he was also worried. He had already gone through a lot of hardships to get pregnant with Tun Tun, and after so many years of not using contraception, the second child just wouldn't come!
What woman only has one son in her backyard?
Zong Suyi felt somewhat guilty towards Zhang Ting for not being able to continue the Zhang family line, but she dared not tell anyone, fearing that she might be reminding Zhang Ting to take in new concubines.
But he...
He bit his lip and tentatively asked, "My lady, when will we have our second child?" His fingers fidgeted nervously on the bedsheets.
Having a second child? Zhang Ting shook her head; she didn't plan to have any more children.
One Zhang Shile was enough; she didn't have the energy to raise another, or to devote the same amount of attention to a second child. She was afraid of treating them all unfairly and upsetting her son, and she was also afraid of treating them all too fairly and upsetting him.
"Having too many children isn't necessarily a good thing. The three of us are just fine."
Zong Suyi was overjoyed upon hearing this; wasn't this like a pillow delivered just in time for him? He immediately agreed, "Okay!" His response was so decisive and swift that, noticing his wife looking over, he guiltily tried to cover it up: "What I meant was, having just one Tuntun is enough." His excuse for taking a new concubine was now completely blocked. Hmph, he'd see who dared to cross him!
Zhang Ting was tidying up the medicine pot when she suddenly remembered that Zong Suyi hadn't taken his medicine yet. She picked up the bowl and fed him, saying, "It's a little cold, my lord, please make do with it."
Zong Suyi's heart, which had been filled with sunshine just moments before, was now clouded with gloom. She frowned and said bitterly, "Can I not drink it?" How could a tonic soup meant to regulate and nourish the body be so bitter!
"Good medicine tastes bitter but is good for the disease." Zhang Ting was very firm on this matter, and wouldn't stop until he saw him drink the whole bowl.
After Zong Suyi finished drinking, he felt that his whole body was covered in a bitter, foul odor, and he collapsed onto the bed, feeling weak from the smell.
Zhang Ting silently put away the bowl, not telling him that Zong Suyi was actually in very good health and didn't need to take any medicine. However, she was very quick to learn things, so the medicine was prescribed by a doctor she had specially asked for.
Let's see if he dares to mess around again next time!
She ordered the servant to remove the things and returned indoors. "I have to go to work tomorrow, so you can stay home..." She thought for a moment, as if she had never interfered with Zong Suyi's daily life. "Just live as you please, and keep an eye on Tun Tun reading and writing calligraphy."
Furthermore, as the head official of a prefecture, she would have no shortage of people coming to flatter and fawn over her. Yingzhou Prefecture was full of members of the imperial clan, unlike Zhangzhou Prefecture, where the people were more honest and simple.
"Just deal with the families of officials casually. If relatives of the imperial clan come knocking..." She thought for a moment, considering Zong Suyi's status, that relatives of the imperial clan should not dare to come knocking. "If there are any who are not afraid of death, my lord... you can decide what to do."
Zong Suyi, wrapped in the quilt on the bed, twisted and turned like a long worm, ignoring his wife's instructions, and even laughed and asked her if he looked good in the costume.
Zhang Ting: "..."
She smiled, pursed her lips, slapped him hard on the buttocks, pressed him down with her knee, and interrogated him: "What did I just tell you?"
Zong Suyi immediately slumped onto the bed, listless and dejected. He really hadn't listened to a word.
She pouted as if complaining, but actually changed the subject: "Why are you talking about other things when you're with me?"
How could Zhang Ting let him off the hook? She first grabbed the snake, pressed it against her lap, and made him repeat it, hitting him for each wrong word.
They beat the snake so badly it started to speak like a human, howling loudly.
Zong Suyi, mimicking a weak and feeble expression, lay on her lap and accused, "Does not having a second child give you the right to beat my second child? If you really damage it, I'll become a monk!"
He just loves to talk nonsense, Zhang Ting sighed and ignored him.
There is another issue, which is also the most important and sensitive one.
She asked, "Xiaoyi, would you like to meet your maternal grandparents?"
Zong Suyi's maternal grandmother was the deposed crown princess Chen Jue, and his maternal grandfather was the deposed crown princess's husband, Cui.
Her assignment to Yingzhou Prefecture, due to Zong Suyi's influence, is hard to deny that it wasn't Emperor Chengtai's doing. What was the purpose? Was it to test her ambition, or to test whether the deposed crown princess would rise again and usurp the throne?
Zhang Ting was speechless. Emperor Chengtai was both wary of his daughter, fearing she would usurp his throne, and reluctant to execute her. What could he possibly gain by wanting both?
They even forcibly dragged her into the competition.
Zong Suyi quieted down, resting her head on Zhang Ting's lap, her eyes glazed over as she stared blankly ahead, seemingly looking away from somewhere in the void.
Nine years have passed.
He knew this was no ordinary matter, so he lowered his eyes and asked, "Do you think I should see him?"
"You can see me if you want, or you can not see me if you don't." Zhang Ting gently stroked his black hair, which was smooth, shiny, and felt wonderful to the touch. "The emperor will send people to monitor us, but I will take care of that for you."
"Xiaoyi, you just need to tell me your true thoughts. I will take care of all obstacles for you."
He pondered for a long time, then shook his head. "There's nothing visible. After all these years, dust returns to dust, and ashes return to ashes."
Even so, there was still a hint of sadness in his voice, "In my heart, the only family I have are you and Tun Tun." He reached out and wrapped his arms around her waist, holding her tightly.
What's the point of meeting someone who is a relative bound by blood ties but is actually calculating and scheming for their own gain, and can easily push them into the abyss?
Another crucial factor was that he didn't want his wife to suffer any more grievances or embarrassment because of his problems. He still remembered that incident from five years ago, and it caused him great pain every time he recalled it.
He has found a home and doesn't need the royal family's feigned affection.
Zhang Ting didn't say anything, but pulled him into her arms, holding his thin waist, and said only, "Eat more food in the future, Xiaoyi, you've lost weight again."
Zong Suyi chuckled and nestled into her arms, "Did I put my hand on you? I'm not that thin, am I?"
A hint of sorrow lingered in her eyes as she wiped away the tears from his eyes and planted a kiss on his forehead. "A little," she said, resting her chin against his forehead.
"As your wife, I shouldn't be getting any promotions or demotions for a long time. I'll have more time to spend with you and the children. Don't be afraid, with me here, no one can threaten you and the children."
His shoulders trembled, and he whimpered softly, clinging to her like a weak little animal, as if drawing strength from her to survive.
"Don't be afraid of getting hurt, don't be afraid of implicating me, I will be your strongest support."
Tell me your truest thoughts.
Long, long afterward, Zong Suyi clenched his fists so tightly they dug into his flesh, his voice barely audible: "My lady, I still want to see them one last time... even if it's just to put an end to things." Despite the many unspeakable reasons, they were his only remaining relatives from his father's family.
He held his face in his hands, tears streaming down his face, his sobs hoarse and pitiful.
Zhang Ting patted his shoulder gently, "Everything has its own destiny, and I will always support your decisions."
“Even if things take a certain turn, it’s okay.” She looked firmly into his eyes and held his hand tightly. “As his wife, I will always find a way to set things right.”
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